Monday, 7 December 2009

I'm quite outgoing with people I know but I'm painfully quiet with people I don't. The first day people meet me I don't really speak. I was born in Scunthorpe and had a very quiet childhood in the countryside. I was very lazy at college and did pretty badly. As a result, I couldn't get into university so I did an HND in Business Studies and Public Relations in Leeds, which was exactly the same as the degree course, also in Leeds. We were in a separate class to the BA class but had all the same subjects. I went to university as a teetotal sort of kid. I'd never really been nightclubbing. I was just into baggy jeans and basketball. A lot of my tastes changed at university. When I arrived I was one of the few people who was into hip hop in a sea of people who were into the Gallagher brothers and indie. That's the sort of scene I fell into. I didn't really go to my classes but just geared up to go out every night.

Foot in the door...

I decided I wanted to do fashion PR and sent a very chatty email (too chatty) to a lady called Lulu Kennedy who does Fashion East. I pressed the send button, then reread it and thought 'what a creepy email'. It was too friendly and familiar. But she actually got back to me and said that she really liked the email. She said it was different to the usual 'I've got a passion for fashion' sort of email she received on a regular basis. Then I came down on work experience but didn't really plan it properly. I just turned up on their doorstep and by then I think they'd forgotten about me. But I was lucky that I emailed them, because they weren't a PR company like I'd thought but were more an events and production company. They were really small at that stage. I met a lot of amazing people through them and developed a nice friendship circle. I went back to college after that but decided that I really wanted to move down to London.

Student life...

Whenever I've been in education I've never really been ready for it. And I've got a bad habit of not taking anything in if I'm not interested. My course was very basic and dull and I think the lecturers were out of touch with the professional world. When I moved to London I studied at LCF. I'd had quite a bit of work experience by the time I applied so they let me in even though I didn't do very well at university. But I found the course there very unrealistic. We'd get asked to do quite elaborate projects that were in no way helpful in the real world. I think after graduating from LCF, your first employer after would have to retrain you to get the most out of a small budget. I lost patience with the whole thing and started doing more work experience and less university to the point where they asked me not to come back.

Dazed & Confused...

My friends when I first met young people in London were part of a magazine called Super Blow, which was about the spirit of London. It was exciting because it wasn't bothered with London Fashion Week. It only covered off-schedule shows so it was about the young designers, graduates and people still at university. I was with a PR company called Blow who still have quite a lot of young clients. The magazine went on to be called Super Super. I was involved with it right from the start. And because my friend who was the fashion editor moved to Dazed, I got to work for them and do a lot of good things.

Styling start...

I had a little taste of styling and looked through a lot of magazines and looked for stylists that I really liked. The ones that stuck out for me were Andrew Davis, who was the fashion editor of Arena, and Thom Murphy who I knew nothing about but I would see him around. He was one of those people you'd always remember because he was about 7ft 5 and was always really nice. He was a friend of a friend so I got his email address and we met up for a cup of tea. He's a Scouser with really funny stories of growing up in Liverpool and getting into fashion. I started working for him and assisted him for a year and half. We'd do Dazed, AnOther Man, Arena Homme Plus and magazines that I thought were really great.

As a result of the work I was doing, ID invited me to speak to them if I had any ideas for features. The first thing I did was a feature for the front section of ID and did something for Dazed around the same time. I continued working for Thom and then went freelance. I did a lot of work for ID until last summer, when they changed faces and we went our separate ways. Now I'm properly on my own. And drinking lots of tea. I contribute to a lot of different magazines, including a few foreign ones.

Childhood and such...

When I was younger I obviously wanted to be a professional footballer for Scunthorpe United. That didn't happen. I've still not ruled it out, to be honest. I used to play football in my garden by myself while commentating. Then I turned into a computer geek, just playing Football Manager. Football Manager or Championship Manager took over my life for a few years. My parents made me leave them at home when I went to university. I probably wouldn't have made any friends otherwise.

Before I left home I didn't really go out. I wasn't like other sixteen-year-olds who were out trying to sneak into clubs. I was at home listening to Tim Westwood in my room, just being sad. So now I'm a little obsessed with nightclub culture and like going out a lot.

The only fashion related thing I did when I was younger was constantly designing football kits. I'd send them into the football clubs but nothing ever came of it. I once designed a football action man with interchangeable heads and kits. The product did come out but I don't know if that had anything to do with me. I did send that design to Manchester United so maybe Alex Ferguson thought it was a good idea.

Influential family...

My family's quite extravagant. They're all Irish. I spent all my holidays in Ireland and think that must have influenced me somehow. I can't pinpoint any specific influence. I've always been into clothes but not really into fashion. My sister was really into fashion and coincidentally I've kind of followed her around. She went to do a university course in Leeds when I was still at school. I asked her about it and it sounded interesting so I went and did exactly the same course. But she only went there because she couldn't get into LCF's Fashion Marketing course, which I ended up doing. She always used to wear labels like Red or Dead and 90s clubbing brands because she used to go out clubbing. So when we used to have to traipse to Manchester or Leeds or Sheffied or wherever to buy these specific things she wanted it seeped in somehow. I loved that era of clothing.

My mum was always into sewing, getting patterns from Vogue and sewing things. My parents like clothes but they're not into fashion. They like seeing what I do. My mum works in a library and is always on the internet so she's always looking at what's happening. She cuts things out of newpapers and magazines.

I think there's also something about the area where I grew up. There are a lot of people from the same tiny village that I bump into down here. If I'd been into photography I think I'd have taken a lot of photos there. It's a beautiful place and everyone there is very normal. It's a mixture of a farming community, steelworks and shops. It's a bit of a consumerist community too and everyone wants to have nice things.

Parental guidance...

My dad gave me a lot of advice. He still gives me a lot of advice. He still thinks I should be getting a trade. I think it's very frustrating for my parents – they've sent me to university twice although not two full periods. I've always supported myself but I have gone to them cap in hand a couple of times. My dad doesn't really understand what I do and ID isn't in the local village shop. That's what I liked about Arena – my mum can get it from her local shop. My parents think it's idiotic and don't really understand why I do any work for free. When I say I'm working, they ask whether it's for good money. And sometimes there's no money at all. I think it is mad too so I understand why they often find it frustrating.

Collections...

I collect rubbish clothes. And recently I've just started collecting shaped clothes – I'm very interested in the architecture of clothing and how things stay up. I'm an eBay fanatic. I have a lot of 80s ad 90s hip hop clothes – a combination of Fresh Prince of Belair, Tribe Called Quest and Fido Dido stuff.

Favourite things...

I love photographers like Ma and Pa, realist photographer Walter Pfeiffer and David Sims' low-fi fashion photography. I spend a lot of time on BBC News – too much time but it gives me something to talk about. I listen to Five Live. And read a lot of blogs - The Interzine (a blog of blogs) – has quite a lot of London people's blogs on it. I spend a lot of time on Facebook, less and less though, Google Image search and eBay. I buy a lot of old adverts on eBay. And there's a geeky website called Fashionspot.

Right now...

At the moment I'm doing something with a Croatian photographer called Bruna Kazinoti. We're doing a shoot this month. At the moment, I've been drawn to reflective cycle wear that I'm turning into punky bondage. That's what I'm working on at the minute, making straps and things. I've had a lot of time off sewing but I'm getting back into it.

I'm quite interested in the teenage fear phenomenon – why people are fearful of younger people. Every generation feels that they've invented youth and controversy. Every era has a clothing attached to that fear of youth. Denim was once feared. The leather jacket was another look that struck fear into America. Right now, it's the hoodie. I'm really interested in the idea of tribes and tribes within tribes.

I'm interested in the war in Afghanistan because it's completely hidden. It seems quite surreal because it is a proper war but there's not really much of a fuss being made about it. The only reason I'm interested in it is because I know people from back home who are in the army. In London, I think we're very hidden from people in the army. We would never know anyone in the army down here, whereas back home it's a very strong career option.

If he could go back in time...

I would be a robber because there would be no CCTV. If I had the knowledge I have now, I'd be a great criminal. Before CCTV you could just walk into any shop and just steal things. I'd commit at least one petty crime. Definitely. I've never stolen anything because I'm just too scared. But I think if there was no scare element, I'd be a great criminal.

If not this then...

I'd love to be a football coach in Africa because they've got these great football academies now. I'd probably go to Ghana or Cameroon. Or I'd like to be a millionaire. If I won the lottery, I'd take everyone I know to a holiday resort at Costa del Sol or something like that. It'd be hilarious. It would be such a brilliant experience – taking 400 or so people somewhere and just being drunk for a week. It'd be really funny.

Words of wisdom...

I'm always overwhelmed by how stylish kids today are. I remember going on a date when I was about 11 or 12, wearing a stars-and-stripes Mickey Mouse tracksuit from Marks & Spencers. I think my mum bought it for me. I don't think I owned a pair of jeans until I was about 12. I just wore tracky bottoms. But, now I see kids who are about eight or nine in skinny jeans and I just think 'you're so cool!' I was never that cool. There's so much information available now too. You can watch fashion shows online. There are kids like Tavi, who are are freakishly young and seemingly have an encyclopedic knowledge of fashion and lots of opinions about it.

Getting into fashion isn't that interesting. Fashion is just people wearing clothes inspired by everything around them. The history of fashion is quite interesting though - the reason why people wear clothes is based on various factors in society. Learning about society is a lot more interesting than learning about fashion. I'd just tell people to go out nightclubbing and go to different places in the world or the country and take it all in. It's so interesting to see what people in different places wear.

Also, get work experience. People judge you on the experiences you've acquired. It's how you'll end up bonding with people you work with in the future. There are so many ways to get into fashion - the most obvious is that you could be a designer, a photographer or a stylist but there are so many other things you could do, so many offshoots and ways to get in.Continue reading...

Thursday, 26 November 2009

'Stevie has often been likened to a modern day Ernest Hemingway with his masculine, rugged appearance and manly hobbies coupled with his sensitive creativity. He is a big hit with both ladies and men alike.'

That’s a quote from the interweb I once read about myself and it’s pretty much all true. I have a lot of manly hobbies.

What's he all about...

I am working as a graphic designer/ art director by day doing all sorts of creative wonderment. I have been doing that for five years now. My design style is clean and colourful.

In my own time I pursue the type of illustration work I have a personal interest in doing. Mostly starting as hand drawn with my own style of bad humour and play on words - stuff like record covers, tee shirts, clothes, skate stuff, posters, flyers, zines, just any creative fun times - how I want it to be. In my spare time I especially like fancy dress parties and riding my fixie fast bike.

In the pipeline...

I have a few projects that are in the work in progress stage but a new music collaboration is on the cards and will be the raddest thing yet!

I will be continuing my collaboration with Death Spray Custom.

I have just had my debut solo show at Jaguar Shoes on the Kingsland Road called 'Vengeance is coming!' which a few of these pictures are from. That was pretty rad for me as I was able to collaborate with Tourdeville who provided and built two incredible bikes and Death Spray Custom who did the most amazing paint job of my designs on the bikes. It was a dream come true to do those bikes. The whole show was a concept around a long forgotten race from the 50s that only two riders finished, an old sea dog called El Capitane and a Native American Sioux shaman called Figo Vengeance. I designed the bikes for these two characters. Check more pics of it all here.

Road to now...

I went to Central St Martins to do a Graphic Design degree and specialised in illustration. I did well there but left not knowing what to do or how to get a job. I needed money quick so I got myself a job labouring for a landscape gardening company. It was an amazing hot summer and I loved it. Cutting down trees and digging holes like it was going out of style. After about a year and a half of doing that, I started thinking I should be doing something creative. My wife was just about to graduate from Camberwell Arts College and I'd got her pregnant so I was getting a bit worried about money.

We both ended up on the dole but through a college friend I was offered a three-day work placement to make an office look busy for an agency that had a big client coming in. I obviously did well at that, as I did during my first interview at Wood Green job centre. Anyway, the company called me back and offered me a freelance job.

School of life...

When I started working as a designer/art director there was a lot of learning on the job I had to do. It wasn’t just illustration any more but working on concepts and having large group brainstorms, which was daunting at first.

When Jesse was born I had only just started the new job and then there were some complications with the pregnancy, meaning he came six weeks early. We had no cot or no nothing in our studio flat. Once we took him home we had to feed him through a tube in his nose that went directly to his stomach, it all seemed pretty gnarly at the time. We felt so young and had so little money but it was a really good learning curve.

When our daughter Rosa arrived the next year we were ready.

As a kid...

I always loved drawing and it was always my dream to be a cartoonist like Rolf Harris when I was little. Either that or join the SAS. I think I made the right decision.

Skateboard riding took up most of my time from the around the age of 15. The Toy Machine video 'Welcome to Hell' came out when I was 16 and blew me away! The soundtrack on that film had Misfits, Sonic Youth, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd. That video and so many others like 411 showed us bands that I still love today.

As a small child I went to a ballet class for a bit (not in a posh child way), personally I always wanted to do Karate. But I love dancing to this day and have won competitions for my erotic moves.

Stepping up...

I guess you never know till you try... opportunities came up, I took them and people liked what I did. Fear of trying stuff is the biggest enemy you can have.

It’s still a battle to be brave and step up. Having my first show recently was like that for me. Making yourself vulnerable and open to both praise and criticism is a good place to be. You learn a lot about how people are. Some truly lovely people come out and shake your hand and some not so much.

Good days and bad...

Travelling with my job has been really good. I have been to lots of lovely places such as Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Austria, China and America. This has meant wild experiences with all sorts of amazing and different people.

I dislike negative chat about others in the creative world, that seems silly to me, surely we all know what a struggle it can be, so lets help a brother from another mother out!

Place of origin...

I was born in Essex but mainly grew up in Sunbury, a suburb outside London. I had a good group of local friends that I skated with a lot there and just spent as much time outside as possible. We used to skate on everything we could find and build a lot of obstacles of our own. The area had a few wastelands there, which was great for riding BMX and climbing trees.

I guess it taught me you can make your own fun out of what’s around you. Simple pleasures with the right people can just be wild! S.K.Z forever!

Then I put the kids to bed, wake up in the morning and ride to work. Then the cycle continues.

Helping hands...

My parents and lovely older sister encouraged me always, so I now want to do that with my children as much as I can. Both of them are very creative. Rosa loves princesses and dancing, though she is a real tough cookie, she reminds me of Little Miss Sunshine.

My son Jesse who is four was recently asked at school what he wants to do when he’s older. One of his teachers suggested 'an artist like your daddy' and he replied 'I already are one'. That’s a strong answer.

I do a lot of drawing with my kids, but recently we started to draw where Jesse copies what I do line by line, most of the images are his suggestion of drawing people with 'springy eyes'. He is only young but can already use fine liners, brush pens and paint pens. Truly rad!

That’s the biggest encouragement for me.

The familia...

I got to tell you first things first that my great grandad on my mum's side was the Pearly King of Dalston. So although I’m not a cockney I reckon I should be the honorary Fresh Prince of Shoreditch or something. My grandma was chuffed I had my first solo show on the Kingsland Road as she was born on that road.

My dad's father was number 17 of 21 children in a half Irish family. He was an incredible carpenter and knew all sorts of amazing tricks like playing the saw, throwing his voice, playing the piano by ear with his feet. He even sparred with the North London wrestling champion. My dad grew up on the same street as the Krays in Chingford.

I remember my mum telling me how, as a little girl, she used to shout abuse at the Teddy boys on the corner of her street and they would chase her and her mates down the road. She said they were quite scared as the Teddy boys had razor blades under their collars.

My parents have so many good stories behind them - it inspires me. They showed me you can work super hard to better your situation but its not worth shit if you aren’t with the people you love. My family are good people. They have always put family before earning big money or success. That’s meant I’ve always wanted a good woman in my life and kids of my own more than I’ve strived for commercial success.

Marrying into a large Greek Cypriot family was a good move too. They're the most welcoming and supportive people I have ever met. It’s the best feeling knowing such people have got your back. It gives you a lot of confidence and security. The Greek food at family get-togethers is better than restaurant standard too!

Hoops and hurdles...

Serious voice: Having a wife and kids fairly young has been the best thing I have ever done for sure but in terms of selfish ambition for success, it’s always a case of doing what’s best for them first.

I remember in Boyz n the Hood, Furious Styles says to his son 'Any fool with a dick can make a baby, but only a real man can raise his children.' I think Furious Styles is one of the best names I have ever heard of.

Lesson in motion...

At the end of to my third year at St Martins in 2004 I made a comic fanzine 'Hired Hands' with my cousin, the incredible Paul Griffith. We made a few issues and put them in the end of year show. A young lady called Rach Robinson saw it and liked it. To cut a long story short, she introduced me to her brother Will who had set up an agency called Stem and was interested in new illustrators. And it ends up he becomes like a father/brother/coach to me and I’m still with Stem now.

The moral of that tale is to be as pro-active as you can be, always creating new stuff and getting it out there yourself, you never know what could happen.

Powerful words...

The best advice anyone has ever given me was given to me by myself and it changed my life forever, I said to myself one day:'Dance like you don’t need money, work like you never been hurt, make love like no-ones watching. Live free.'

But being serious, Uncle Leon who has the best tattoos in London, recently said to me while sitting up in bed with a black eye and fractured skull: 'Words without action hold no value.' That piece of advice helped me a lot at the time.

Obsessions and collections...

I am trying to be less of a consumer these days as we four live in a small flat so I had to edit things down a bit. But I have a lot of mini collections around on the shelves - records, books, comic books, native American stuff, Wolfman stuff, smoking pipes, Cyprus stuff, vintage skate stuff. It's bad. I need throw stuff away more.

I support Tottenham Hotspurs too. It’s been a good season so far. It's early days but I’m hoping for a top 4th maybe 5th/6th. Realistically top half of the table finish? You can live in hope.

Inspiration...

I love 1950s comic books. I have a small collection of erotic comics I bought in the Dominican Republic. They are so sleazy and violent and the men in the stories are complete misogynists. That type of stuff influences my style. They are all muscles and sexual power but I always imagine they are actually scared shitless and insecure about everything. I love it.

Ernest Hemmingway, Elmore Leonard, Kurt Vonnegut, John Steinbeck and SE Hinton who wrote most famously Rumblefish and The Outsiders, two of my favourite books. They are all American writers that write the kind of words my eyes likes to look at. And Raymond Pettibon for art and Mark Gonzales for art and skate innovation.

People...

Popeye is one of my all time heroes. The type of man I want to be. No nonsense with massive forearms.

My wife, first of all, well second after Popeye... She’s like my creative director and way better at drawing than me anyway. I rely on her for ideas when I get a new brief. It's good to work with someone you can be completely honest with and then meet in the bedroom later for a debriefing. Ha ha.

My agent Will at Stem Agency is like my boxing coach, always encouraging me to carry on even when I think I’ve got nothing left to give. Stem is rad because it's grass roots, not corporate, it’s built from the bottom up through hard work.

But does it float has seemingly endless creative inspiration. Toy Machine for amazing stuff in the dream life of Ed Templeton. RVCA always has good stuff on bikes, skating, art, music, fashion and whatnot. Way Out ! for hot motorbikes and wild women (not for kids). Death Spray Custom has cool shit and some stuff I did too. Just watched season two of Epicly Later’d on VBS TV. The Max Schaaf ones were so rad. Best man Ken Bitchen recommended these to me. Thanks Ken.

I really like playing darts with my friend’s. I once penetrated the end of a dart through the flight of another dart on the bullseye. My proudest moment. Robin Hood shit. My darts name is Valdez Prince and I defeated Quincy Chalis in the final.

I would love to have a gold ring on every finger and have a table reserved in the back of a Greek restaurant for me, where everyone knows me and looks down as I walk past and I don’t have to pay for any of the food. I don’t think enough illustrators have that kind of respect or reputation. It should be a more glamorous a lifestyle.

If not art then...

Probably still landscape gardening. I seriously considered staying with that or training to be a tree surgeon. I love climbing trees and using chainsaws. That would be a cool job.

I want to do animation soon, it's kind of a natural progression for illustrators. I have storyboarded and art directed a few at work but never done any with my drawings. I have a plan with some friends to do something with 'Team Unicorn'. Lets see...

A note of advice...

In general, don’t take life too seriously, have fun, be rad, make cosmic love as much as your body can handle, stay wild and don’t listen to negative talk. If you’ve got your people around you, nothing can touch you.

Wednesday, 18 November 2009

What: Illustrator and entrepreneurWhere: Cape Town, South AfricaWebsites: One Horse Town

History...

Both my parents are/were designers. At school I was an art nerd and didn’t really pay much attention in other classes except history. I studied graphic design at Cape Peninsula University of Technology, majoring in illustration. I started One Horse Town with Simon Berndt, who I met at college at the beginning of this year.

Work...

I am an illustrator and partner/founder/manager of One Horse Town. I love collecting old toys, frames, photographs and other antique trinkets. I also collect music and DJ occasionally too.

Learning...

Well, studying taught me a whole lot, but I've always been keen on drawing/painting and have put a lot of time into it through the years. Also, keeping tabs on other designers, illustrators, photographers and art directors has guided me along the way.

Childhood...

I was quite introverted and anti-social. This has changed since and I'm quite the opposite now. I loved surfing, skateboarding and punk rock. I still do but time evades me.

Confidence...

I think the positive response to my work from a young age was a great encouragement. The fact that my parents went the creative route was a further encouragement.

Right now...

We are currently working on posters for Gazelle’s 2010 European tour. We also have some ad jobs on the go.

Pros and cons...

I like being able to draw all day. I dislike difficult art directors but most of them are not bad at all.

Places...

I grew up in Simon's Town and Hout Bay, in Cape Town. I think the seaside town lifestyle has had a bit of an effect on me.

Encouragement...

My friends and family are very supportive of what I do.

Family...

Broken but good. Support from both sides has helped me a lot.

Collections...

Old toys, figurines, music from the 50s, B-grade grade films and vintage pictures.

A little bit about us

Hi! We're Pete and Parusha and we're in London. Goodness Greatness is our experiment. We're interviewing our friends and some of their friends. And then their friends' friends. And the friends of those friends' friends and we'll see where it all goes. There are inspiring people all around us and we're setting out to discover them…

Spell it out

The plan is to create a series of interview-chains, each of which will be formed by an interviewee nominating one of their friends to be interviewed after them i.e. We interview one of our friends, then one of their friends and on it goes.